Behavioral Sciences MCAT Review Flashcards
1
Q
What is Phrenology?
A
The theory that behavior and intellect directly correlates to brain anatomy and thus can be measured
2
Q
What is functionalism?
A
The theory that the mind uses mental processes to adapt to its environment
3
Q
What is the role of afferent neurons?
A
To transmit sensory information to the brain
4
Q
What is the role of efferent neurons?
A
To transmit motor information to muscles and glands
5
Q
Motor neurons (efferent or afferent)
A
Efferent
6
Q
Sensory neurons (efferent or afferent)
A
Afferent
7
Q
Interneurons
A
Neurons found between other neurons
8
Q
What is the role of interneurons?
A
To participate in reflexive behavior
9
Q
What does a reflex arc do?
A
It reacts to sensory information and sends motor impulses before original information gets to the CNS
10
Q
What are the two divisions of the nervous system?
A
Central and peripheral
11
Q
What are the two structures of the central nervous system?
A
The brain and the spinal cord
12
Q
What are the two divisions of the peripheral nervous system?
A
The somatic and autonomic nervous systems
13
Q
What are the two divisions of the autonomic nervous system?
A
The parasympathetic and sympathetic systems
14
Q
Which nervous system includes 31 pairs of spinal nerves and 12 pairs of cranial nerves?
A
The peripheral nervous system
15
Q
What does the somatic nervous system control?
A
It involves sensory and motor neurons in the joints/skin/muscles
16
Q
What does the autonomic nervous system control?
A
It manages involuntary muscles associated with internal organs and glands
17
Q
Which nervous system controls homeostasis?
A
The autonomic nervous system
18
Q
What neurotransmitter is primarily used in the parasympathetic nervous system?
A
Acetylcholine
19
Q
Rest and digest
A
Parasympathetic
20
Q
Fight or flight
A
Sympathetic
21
Q
What are three roles of the meninges?
A
To resorb CSF, to protect the brain and to anchor the brain in the skull
22
Q
Pia mater
A
The lowest layer of meninges
23
Q
Arachnoid mater
A
The middle layer of meninges
24
Q
Dura mater
A
The top layer of meninges
25
How can you remember the order of the meninges from the brain?
Remember that the meninges P.A.D. (from) the brain
26
Which sections of the brain evolved together?
The hindbrain and the midbrain
27
What structure do the hindbrain and midbrain combine to form?
The brain stem
28
What is the brain stem responsible for?
Basic survival functions
29
What are 5 structures within the forebrain?
The cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, limbic system, thalamus, hypothalamus
30
What structures are within the midbrain?
The inferior and superior colliculi
31
What 3 structures are within the hindbrain?
The cerebellum, medulla oblongata, and reticular formation
32
Rhombencephalon
Hindbrain
33
Myelencephalon
Medulla oblongata
34
What does the medulla oblongata do?
Regulates breathing, heart rate, blood pressure
35
Metencephalon
Pons and cerebellum
36
What does the pons do?
It contains sensory and motor pathways between the cortex and the medulla oblongata
37
What does the cerebellum do?
It controls posture, balance and coordination
38
Mesencephalon
Midbrain
39
What stimulus does the inferior colliculus receive?
Auditory stimulus
40
What stimulus does the superior colliculus receive?
Visual stimulus
41
Prosencephalon
Forebrain
42
Telencephalon
Cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, limbic system
43
Diencephalon
Thalamus, hypothalamus, posterior pituitary gland, pineal gland
44
What is neuropsychology?
The study of functions/behaviors associated with regions of the brain
45
How is neuropsychology studied?
It is studied in individuals with brain lesions or through the purposeful extirpation of animals
46
EEG
Electroencephalogram
47
How does an EEG work?
It uses electrodes on the scalp to measure electrical activity
48
rCBF
Regional cerebral blood flow
49
How does an rCBF work?
It detects brain activity by tracking blood flow through areas of the brain
50
CT
Computed tomography
51
How does CT work?
It uses xrays to take multiple cross sectional views of the brain
52
PET
Positron emission tomography
53
How does PET work?
It uses radioactively labelled sugar to map tissues
54
MRI
Magnetic resonance imaging
55
How does MRI work?
It uses magnets to map H+ dense areas of the brain
56
How does fMRI work?
It tracks blood flow
57
What is the purpose of the thalamus?
It relays sensory information for all senses aside from smell
58
What is the purpose of the hypothalamus?
It has endocrine, autonomic and arousal functions
59
What are the 3 regions of the hypothalamus?
Lateral (LH), Ventromedial (VMH), and Anterior (AH)
60
What is the function of the LH?
It acts as the hunger/thirst center to trigger behaviors
61
What is the function of the VMH?
It acts as the satiety center to trigger inhibitive behaviors
62
What is the function of the AH?
It regulates sexual behavior, sleep and temperature
63
What is the function of the posterior pituitary gland?
It releases ADH and oxytocin
64
What is another name for ADH?
Vasopressin
65
What is the function of the pineal gland?
It regulates the sleep wake cycle by receiving ocular stimulus and producing melatonin
66
What is the function of the basal ganglia?
It coordinates movement by relaying information to the brain and spinal cord
67
What 3 diseases have been linked to dysfunction in the basal ganglia?
Parkinson disease, schizophrenia, and OCD
68
What is the function of the limbic system?
It is associated with emotion and memory
69
What are three structures within the limbic system?
Septal nuclei, amygdala, and hippocampus
70
What is the function of the septal nuclei?
They are the pleasure centers of the brain
71
What is the function of the amygdala?
It controls defensive and aggressive behaviors
72
What is the function of the hippocampus?
It is responsible for long term memory and learning
73
What is the fornix?
It is the long appendage which connects the hippocampus with other regions of the limbic system
74
Anterograde amnesia
Inability to form new long term memories
75
Retrograde amnesia
Inability to retrieve previously formed long term memories
76
What structure does the neocortex refer to?
The cerebral cortex
77
What three significant regions are housed within the frontal lobe?
The prefrontal cortex, the motor cortex, and Brocca's area
78
What is the role of the prefrontal cortex?
It is responsible for executive functioning relating to various other brain regions including planning and inhibition
79
What is an association area?
A region of the brain that integrates diverse imput
80
What is a projection area?
A region of the brain that performs more simple perceptual or motor tasks
81
Where is the motor cortex located?
On the precentral gyrus
82
What lobe of the brain contains the motor cortex?
The frontal lobe
83
What is the function of the motor cortex?
It initiates voluntary motor movements
84
What is the function of Brocca's area?
It is vital for speech production
85
What is the sensorimotor cortex?
The area of the brain near the central gyrus which contains the motor cortex and the somatosensory cortex
86
Where is the somatosensory cortex located?
On the postcentral gyrus
87
What lobe of the brain contains the somatosensory cortex?
The parietal lobe
88
What is the role of the somatosensory cortex?
It receives sensory signals related to touch, pressure and pain
89
What is another name for the visual cortex?
Striate cortex
90
What is another name for the Striate cortex
The visual cortex
91
What lobe of the brain contains the visual cortex?
The occipital lobe
92
What functions are housed within the temporal lobes?
Auditory processing, memory, emotion and language
93
What lobe of the brain contains Wernicke's area?
The temporal lobe
94
What is the function of Wernicke's area?
It is integral for language reception and comprehension
95
What does the dominant hemisphere of the brain control?
It controls functions, details, language and logic
96
What does the non dominant hemisphere of the brain control?
Intuition, creativity, music, spatial processing
97
Which hemisphere is most people's dominant hemisphere?
The left hemisphere
98
What is the role of acetylcholine in the peripheral nervous system?
It acts in nerve impulses to stimulate muscles, primarily in the parasympathetic nervous system
99
What is the role of acetylcholine in the central nervous system?
It increases attention or arousal
100
What disease is a result of loss of cholinergic neurons in the hippocampus?
Alzheimer's
101
What does it mean when a neuron is cholinergic?
It uses acetylcholine as a NT
102
What is the cause of Alzheimer's disease?
Loss of cholinergic neurons in the hippocampus leading to progressive memory loss
103
What are 4 neurotransmitters that are considered biogenic amines?
Epinepherine, norepinepherine, dopamine and seratonin
104
What are the catecholamines?
Norepinepherine, epinepherine, and dopamine
105
What is the role of norepinepherine in the nervous system?
It usually acts locally as a neurotransmitter
106
What is the role of epinepherine in the nervous system?
It usually acts systemically as a hormone
107
What is the role of dopamine in the nervous system?
It regulates movement and posture
108
What are two diseases thought to be caused by dopamine imbalance?
Parkinson disease and schizophrenia
109
What role does seratonin play in the nervous system?
It regulates mood, eating and sleep
110
How does GABA function in the nervous system?
It has inhibitory functions and stabilizes neural activity
111
How does Glycine function in the nervous system?
It has inhibitory functions due to increased chloride release
112
What neurotransmitters cause hyper polarization of the postsynaptic membrane?
Glycine and GABA
113
What is the function of Glutamate
It is excitatory
114
What are neuropeptides?
Peptides which act as a neurotransmitter
115
What is the difference between neuropeptides and other neurotransmitters?
They take longer to take effect, but their impact lasts longer
116
What is an example of a neuropeptide?
Endorphins
117
What are enkephalins?
They are substances similar to endorphins, but block pain in the spinal cord
118
What gland is known as the master gland?
The pituitary gland
119
Why is the pituitary gland known as the master gland?
Because it releases hormones which impact other glands
120
What is the hypophyseal portal system?
The system of vasculature which connects the hypothalamus to the pituitary gland
121
What does the adrenal cortex produce?
Corticosteroids and sex hormones
122
What is one example of a corticosteroid?
Cortisol
123
What does the adrenal medulla produce?
Epinepherine/norepinepherine
124
What part of the nervous system is the adrenal medulla most likely to effect?
The sympathetic nervous system
125
What is the adaptive value of a trait?
The extent to which it benefits the species by increasing fitness
126
How are family studies performed?
They are used to compare the rate of certain traits within families against the rate amongst unrelated individuals
127
What is the limitation of family studies?
They cannot distinguish between impact of shared environment versus shared genes
128
How are twin studies performed?
They are used to compare the rate of traits amongst monozygotic twins against dizygotic twins
129
Concordance rate
The likelihood that twins share a trait
130
How are adoption studies performed?
They are used to compare the rate of traits of a person within an adoptive family versus the rates of the traits within their biologic family
131
What type of neurons are formed from the alar plate?
Sensory neurons
132
What type of neurons are formed from the basal plate?
Motor neurons
133
What tissues come from the neural crest?
The neural tube, dorsal root ganglia, melanocytes, and the calcitonin producing cells of the thyroid
134
At what gestational age does neurulation begin?
3-4 weeks
135
What occurs during neurulation?
The ectoderm overlying the notochord furrows and forms the neural groove, and the two neural folds eventually meet in the middle to close the neural tube
136
What are 3 things that can have significant impact on fetal development?
Viral infections, pharmaceutical drugs and recreational drugs
137
Primitive reflexes
Reflexes found in babies that should disappear with age
138
What is the Babinski reflex?
The fanning of toes when sole of foot is stimulated
139
What is the rooting reflex?
The turning of the head towards stimulus of the cheek
140
What is the Moro reflex?
The grasping/clutching reflex that occurs with the sensation of falling
141
What are two patterns that motor skills tend to follow in development?
Head to toes, and midline to extremities
142
What is the pattern that social skills tend to follow in development?
Parent focused to self focused to other focused
143
What age is stranger anxiety/separation anxiety common?
6 months-1 year
144
What age does parallel play begin?
2 years
145
When do children gain idea of gender identity?
3 years
146
When does conformity become important?
5 years
147
